Announcing KOIN
Hello Hivers, I’m Andrew Levine, the CEO of OpenOrchard and I am excited to announce first on Hive that on October 13th we will be releasing a brand new cryptocurrency named KOIN onto the Ethereum network that you will be able to mine using just the CPU in a regular computer. If you would like to skip directly to the mining application download, you can find that here. We have also released a whitepaper that you can find at koinos.io. This whitepaper is only for the framework. We will be releasing more technical documentation leading up to the release of mainnet, so be sure to follow us on social media and join our mailing list by going to koinos.io.
Decentralization & Accessibility
The mining period will last for 6 months at which point we will launch the Koinos mainnet which will airdrop tokens based entirely on the Ethereum mining. There will be no ICO because our goal is to distribute the tokens as widely as possible so as to maximize decentralization.
Ethereum PoW Mining
We genuinely believe that Koinos could usher in a new era of decentralized computing that will empower everyone through digital self ownership and we want as many people as possible to have a stake in that future. That’s why we’re launching the token on Ethereum, the blockchain with the most active users and why we put a lot of work into ensuring that the mining algorithm is both memory-hard and GPU resistant so anyone with a decent CPU can acquire KOIN through mining without having to compete with massive GPU mining rigs or ASICs.
That’s also why we’re providing a desktop mining program with an intuitive graphical user interface that will make it easy for ordinary people to participate in the mining process. You can find that here. There is a version for every operating system, unfortunately you do have to fund the miner with ETH in order to pay the transaction fees, but well, that’s what happens when you don’t have a fee-less blockchain which segues nicely into why you should mine KOIN in the first place. Why will people want to use this new blockchain when there are already so many others?
The Team
Engineering Koinos is a group of battle-hardened blockchain developers with unrivaled experience as core developers and architects of the Bitshares and Steem blockchains, two of the most used blockchains ever. Of course, most of you are no doubt aware that Hive is a fork of Steem. It was through our first hand experience working with some of the most performant blockchains, and their shortcomings, that we learned about the most serious problems facing the mass adoption of this technology.
The Mission
Our mission is to empower people through ownership of their digital selves and blockchain is the most promising technology for accomplishing this mission. Blockchain-based applications can add value to people’s lives in an infinite variety of ways but building such applications is far too difficult, time consuming, and expensive.
In order to accomplish our mission we need to dramatically expand the quantity of blockchain powered applications and end-users, which is why we are building a brand new blockchain from the ground up to make it fast, easy, and affordable to build blockchain-based applications that are capable of delighting users.
Mainnet
When it launches the Koinos mainnet will be a fast and fee-less blockchain that enables developers to create an unlimited number of free accounts for their users. With these features, Koinos won’t just lower the barriers to entry, it will obliterate them and open up blockchain applications to an order of magnitude more users.
At OpenOrchard we are developer obsessed which is why Koinos will enable developers to use the programming languages they already know and love thanks to WASM integration. Koinos will start with C++ support, followed soon after by typescript, and then whatever programming languages developers want most like .net and Go.
Thanks to these features, Koinos will deliver an unparalleled experience to both developers and their users, but that won’t launch for another 6 months, so what have we been doing up until now?
The Framework
We have built a brand new, high performance, vertically scalable, blockchain framework which can acquire any feature through smart contract modules running in the virtual machine. Because these smart contracts can be upgraded in-band, hardfork-like behavior change does not force a coordinated software upgrade on all users. This new capability that we call “modular upgradeability” resolves one of the biggest challenges facing existing blockchains: The difficulty and disruption of hardfork upgrades.
Modular Upgradeability
Modular upgradeability enables us to rapidly add different features to the framework without impacting any other part of the blockchain. This is how we will be able to offer a testnet in just 3 months that delivers Ethereum feature parity, but with WASM smart contracts, fast block times, and fee-less transactions. While the testnet will feature proof of work, the Koinos blockchain framework makes it easy for us to swap that consensus algorithm out for the totally new and different algorithm that we’re developing for mainnet.
The Evolving Blockchain
Thanks to modular upgradeability, individual upgrades can be pushed to the network much like an operating system patch but with an on-chain record of the entire path that the upgrade took. Instead of having to package critical upgrades into time consuming, political, and risky hardforks, individual fixes can be pushed to the network the moment they are ready enabling Koinos to rapidly improve itself. It is that capability that we believe makes Koinos the first blockchain in history capable of evolving.
Scalability
After upgradeability, the next major challenge facing existing blockchains is scalability. Blockchains hold on to every transaction and smart contract that has ever been added to them, regardless of whether they get used or not. That means that the cost of lugging around all of this expensive data gets baked into the cost of every new transaction which itself adds even more information to the chain. All of this old and unused data is responsible for the vast majority of the cost of running a blockchain. But what if we could remove all of that data, while retaining the ability to bring it back to life as if it had never left like MAGIC?
State-Paging
Well we have figured out how to do exactly that. We call it state-paging and Koinos will be the first blockchain ever to have it. Not only is this a genuine innovation that could be THE key to scaling blockchain to the masses, but existing blockchains like EOS and Ethereum cannot take advantage of this capability without totally rearchitecting their entire blockchain.
State-paging highly innovative but it is also highly experimental. All of the algorithms have been written and tested. We know we can page data out and back in without any loss in trustlessnes. State-paging works. What we’re not 100% sure about, is how much the memory savings will outweigh additional bandwidth consumption. But that’s mainly because we don’t know how people will use Koinos. In our tests we found that were state-paging a part of existing blockchains, state size could be decreased by as much as 78% and that number would only increase as the blockchain got older. If we see similar numbers on Koinos, then state-paging will be a game-changer.
It’s just very important to us that we be upfront about what we have already developed, what we know we can develop but haven’t yet, and what we just don’t know yet. What we believe very much, is that Koinos will be our best attempt to resolve the major issues holding back blockchain adoption and denying people the empowerment that will come from owning and controlling their digital selves. If this sounds like something that you want to be a part of, then we invite you to join us by firing up those miners.
Lastly, we really want to make sure that you receive important information about Koinos like how to claim your tokens when mainnet launches, so please join our mailing list by going to koinos.io or openorchard.io.
P.S. If you have any questions about how to use the GUI miner, you can find answers here
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Is it possible to mine from different PCs and have the same ethereum recipient address? Also, are hashes saved before they are being traded for KOIN; I wonder what happens when I close the miner and restart it, is the work lost so to speak? Thanks!
I'm curious too. I've had one message where I didn't have enough ETH to claim and I'd like to know if I lost something. Since adding more ETH and running another day my machine has yet to claim anything.
chekc out the newest post from Koinos here on Hive. They go into the details :)
I can't understand why not leverage the decentralized distribution we already have on Hive rather than make a new mining algorithm distribution? If the goal is to maximize the distribution to as many and right people, I think distributing it on Hive hodlers is a good decision. What am I missing?
Nice one team, no wonder you've been so quiet, downloaded the miner and will be spreading the news, lets get mining and creating the angel investors for this project :)
Me: Downloads miner immediately
really noob question. should there be a KOIN coin on metamask?
you would need the ethereum contract address
thanks. i am a noob in this. i know there are tokens on metamask, thought that every one has it's own address, but it is all ethereum address and it knows which token is it. if i got it right :D
Very interesting!
Some familiar faces here :)
Will need to read this a few more times to grasp the concept.
Few questions:
Wish you all the best!
Hello dalz!
Thanks!
Viable CPU mining w consumer equipment effectively lowering the barrier for entry for small players?
Now, that's what I'm talking about!👍
Thanks, the team did some really innovative work on this, could have a been a whole whitepaper itself probably!
I've been out of the loop for a while, but I read about this on Coin Telegraph a few minutes ago. I think I'm going to try to download the miner and try to participate. Congrats on the new project!
Thanks! Glad to get you back in the loop!
Glad to read this! Just anxious to start!
Maybe i build a secondary pc, i have many parts around =P
Dont like to use my primary desktop for this kind of tasks
Great job. I will definitely be a part of it.
Interesting project, unfortunately signup for the newsletter does not work.
Weird! On it!
same on:
koinos.io/landing
smalll question: how much ETH are appr. needed to fund the mining?
This answer really depends on the current gas cost on Ethereum. There are ways to mine "cheaply" though. In the documentation, check out Proof Frequency and Mining Behavior sections.
The TLDR; is if you want to save on Eth cost, you mine with a lower Proof Frequency. This will indicate to the miner to attempt proofs with higher difficulty which results in higher yield per proof and with less ethereum transactions.
I know that there are too many variables to say for certain, but what would you say is the recommended ETH
The cost is 130,000 gas per proof which is around $2. The miner will also display below your ETH balance how long you will be able to mine given your proof frequency, ETH balance, and the current cost of gas.
What about Hive? Lost cause?
Both the developers of Hive and the developers of Hive-based applications will be able to take advantage of Koinos to make their applications better. While I am not suggesting they take any specific course of action, Hive could theoretically be migrated to Koinos once it's live to take advantage of the scalability and upgradeability, as well as the customizability that comes with any platform with smart contracts.
Sweet, thanks for the update, I'm going to look into the miner tomorrow. A couple of noob questions as I've never mined before.
How much ETH do you think it will cost?
How powerful does your pc need to be? I have a gaming PC so will this be enough?
I actually haven't mined since Bitcoin! So, noob here too lol.
As far as your machine, it will depend on a lot of factors, but the short answer is yes a gaming PC should be more than enough.
Steve answered the ETH question in another comment, but I'll include it here:
This answer really depends on the current gas cost on Ethereum. There are ways to mine "cheaply" though. In the documentation, check out Proof Frequency and Mining Behavior sections.
The TLDR; is if you want to save on ETH cost, you mine with a lower Proof Frequency. This will indicate to the miner to attempt proofs with higher difficulty which results in higher yield per proof and with less ethereum transactions.
Haha, united in our noobishness although I think you probably have a bit more dev experience than me 😁
I've downloaded the desktop miner now but I have a couple more questions on where I put in ETH addresses and how to use the miner. Be good to have it all set up before everything goes live!
I've numbered some bits on the screenshot above in red:
1 - is this where you reduce your mining frequency (Proof Frequency as you called it)?
2 - I don't really know what this is? It asks for a password? I use a ledger nano s which I have a little bit of ETH on so is that what it's asking for or am I way off the mark?
3 - Is this just an ETH address? Would I be able to use my Ledger Nano S address for this?
4 - What is the Dev Tips?
You'll find all the answers to those questions here: https://github.com/open-orchard/koinos-gui-miner.
This is exactly what I'm looking for, thanks!
WOOT. Happy mining!
I'm gonna add that link to the post. Thanks!
Haha popping my miner's cherry here! Can't wait to see how it goes! I got a few music friends on board and got them to download the miner as well. They said it was a doddle which is a great sign! Keep up the awesome development!
Good idea to add the link to the post as well. Us noobs need the direction 😁
All set up and ready to go now 😊
Nice work gang!
Love the little developer tip toggle on the miner as well. It all looks great and sounds great, and I'm super keen to see how it all works out.
I've been developing my own app which is intending to help bridge the gap for normies to use blockchain technology, so I'd love the opportunity to potentially add Koinos in there too.
Hey @aussieninja good to see you again! Sounds like a perfect fit for Koinos since our goal is to make this the most user friendly blockchain ever. Come on by our discord. We're eager to begin gathering developer feedback.
Hi @andrarchy! I'm pretty excited about the project, but I'm having some issues with the interface on Windows, I started funding the wallet and it keeps showing a zero ETH balance despite the transaction being confirmed on Etherscan.
I also can't paste my Metamask recipient address on the miner 😖
Come on by the Discord server and we'll be happy to assist you there
I set up the miner easily. I funded the miner with ETH in 2 transactions, both of the are well confirmed but the ETH balance in my miner wallet is still zero. Does the balance show live on the launch or is there something else i need to do to set this up?
never mind i got it
Excellent! glad to hear about all this.
I'm a noob when it comes to mining but tried to install it and it got aborted! lol, I'll have to try again. Good looking team and just sub'd your community.
The error is this:
That is a very high inflation rate, what was the reasoning for that design? It's going to be very hard to sell the coin with that mint rate once the mainnet goes live.
so well cool. cant wait to get the miner fired up
Hey Paula! Have fun!
It sounds great but wonders why HIVE is not an option to pay for the transaction fee. Can we see HIVE as a payment option soon? I will try to setup..
not bad
Mining actively underway @andrarchy! 👍 Looking forward to your next post on details, from here. For example, I have already seen on the Discord server a reference to a Uniswap contract. I think it is very important we get an "official" post about this, so we know we are working with the one which is legit, if in fact, Open Orchard has set one up.
I'm still "licking my wounds" from participating in the WLEO Uniswap pool, so ... Really hope to see some tech details, as well, about what has been done to ensure "maximum security," if there is a Uniswap Liquidity Pool.
Thanks for mining! We are not at all involved in the Uniswap contract.
Okay, thank you @andrachy. This confirms a separate response I got in Discord. Don't know what to think of that ...
Tech looks pretty cool. Noob question, but how do I receive the tokens. I assume an ETH address wouldn't work. Do I need a wallet that specifically supports KOIN? If so, what are some options? I am new to erc20 tokens.
Very impressed there will be no ICO, and the mining is based on a decent CPU. So real opportunity for decentralizaion here with regular users.
Hey Andrew, seem you guys have generated some excitement about the mining -one unrelated question:
Is it time to change this?
:D
Is there a valid discord link?
Interesting plan, and familiar faces, but it raises a lot of questions.
Let me get this straight, what you call "mining" is only used for distributing coins and doesn't contribute to the security of the blockchain?
Does OpenOrchard or do its employees/founders mine KOIN?
How does this work with Ethereum's goal of unchangeable smart contracts? Could a DeFi token contract on Koinos be upgraded by the developers to pull the rug on its users? E.g. mint a million extra tokens and exchange them for ETH, as happened with wLEO recently. The whitepaper says: "Governance will determine whether an upgrade should be made". In other words, 51% PoS attacks are baked in. (Probably a lower percentage in practice, due to low voter turnout.)
And what makes you think that you'll be able to develop and implement a new consensus algorithm in six months, while it took years for other projects?